Chapter 209 The Enlightenment of an Ordinary Soldier
The continuous light rain mixed with icy snowflakes fell all night, and since the early morning it turned into heavy snow that covered the ground, turning thousands of mountains and valleys into black and white.
It was almost noon, and the sky was still not clear. Under the towering dark brown stone wall above Lion Rock, 2.5 kilometers southwest of Yangchunqiao Town, six white figures were lying on the half-foot-thick snow, using a small telescope to look northeast
At the three-way intersection in the south of the town, we observed the passes on both sides of the north road for a long time, and from time to time, we whispered out groups of numbers for our partners to record in detail.
This team is a reconnaissance team led by Captain Dou Fang, the captain of the security company of the Anyi Independent Regiment. The same eleven six-person team is currently marching on the Hengshan Mountain to the west of Yangchunqiao Town, Huoshaoding and other large mountains to the east.
between.
Before the various investigation teams set off in the early morning, An Yi deliberately braved the cold wind, snow and rain, and walked through the muddy snow to rush to Xiaya Town to cheer for these special warriors. He gave only one request: to fully believe in the people in the mountains.
Aboriginal people, treat them well and ask for their help.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Second Division led by Liu Zhi successfully arrived in Jiande City. Without taking any rest, they immediately convened a military meeting with the chief officers above the regiment level in the division headquarters in the county government hall.
An Yi led the regiment deputy Hu Jialin, and regiment staff officer Yang Bin sat at the lower left of the long table, listening quietly to the military briefing by chief of staff Xu Tingyao. At the same time, the commander of the 22nd Division Chen Jijie, deputy commander Tang Junde, and chief of staff Guo Yiyu were also present.
At this meeting, Tang Junde, deputy commander of the 22nd Division, was originally a brigade commander of the Hunan Army. He defected to the 22nd Division at the beginning of the Northern Expedition.
In the First Army, he graduated from the second phase of Baoding and had a close personal relationship with Liu Zhi, his fellow apprentice from Baoding. Guo Yiyu, chief of staff of the 22nd Division, whose ancestral home was Liuyang, Hunan, was An Yi's senior brother of the first phase of Huangpu, and was only older than An Yi.
He was one year old and was now recommended by the division commander Chen Jie to be the chief of staff of the division. Compared with the Huangpu graduates in the First Army, he was promoted relatively quickly.
After days of exhaustion and exhaustion, Xu Tingyao suffered from a serious cold. His face was sickly flushed, his breathing was rapid, and his voice was very nasal:
"According to the order of the former enemy's general headquarters, our second and third columns and the left-wing column of Dai Yue's department of the Second Army launched an attack at the same time. Dai Yue's two divisions will seize Fenshui from Baijiang, and finally turn eastward, in one fell swoop.
Attack the enemy's right wing in Tonglu; Zhou Fengqi's 26th Army, which has already occupied Yiwu, forms the right wing column and attacks the Zhejiang Army's Zhuji line to the north, forcing the Zhejiang Army to be unable to divide its forces and move westward.
The second division, the 22nd division, and the first division of our first army will be responsible for the task of attacking the middle road, which is subdivided into left and right routes. The left road is our second division, and the attack direction is Yangchunqiao, Hengtangwu, Maowuwu and Tonglu;
On the right is Chen Cheng's First Division, attacking from Sandu Town, Dongyuan, Hehuatang to Tonglu. The Sixty-fifth and Sixty-seventh Regiments of the 22nd Division serve as our reserve teams on the left and right respectively.
Everyone, please look at your watch. It is already 3:30 in the afternoon on the 11th. The former enemy headquarters has only three days left for us. That is to say, within these three days, our division must conquer the natural danger of Yangchun Bridge and reach the foot of Tonglu City.
, join with the first division on the right and work together to attack the city, time is urgent!"
The generals of the Second Division exclaimed, saying that three days was too harsh, not to mention the mountains stretching to the left and right of Yangchunqiao, with high peaks and dense forests. There was no way to go. The attempt to climb over the mountains and ridges to surround the enemy's rear was purely wishful thinking. Yangchunqiao Town
The mountains on both sides of the four-kilometer road in the Nanshan Mountains
The steep terrain and complex terrain make it impossible to use any strategy. The enemy only needs to occupy the natural barrier and block the road from a high position. Even if our army has dozens of artillery, it cannot reach the bunkers and positions under the blind corners of the cliff. If we insist on risking our lives,
A strong attack will only lead to death.
Liu Zhi looked at the helpless commanders with furrowed brows, and sighed in his heart. He was just as helpless as his subordinates who were complaining, and he also had an added sense of urgency and anxiety.
Thinking of the cruel and vicious tactics used by the former enemy commander-in-chief Bai Chongxi again and again, Liu Zhi became frightened and shuddered. The siege of Nanchang City failed miserably, and the tragic situation of Youbu being trapped in a tight siege is still vivid in his mind. It is obvious that Yang Chunqiao will be defeated again.
How come Liu Zhi is not frightened by the difficult battle?
Now he was thousands of miles away from Commander-in-Chief Chiang. Even if Liu Zhi wanted to beg to escape, it was too late. Otherwise, this battle would ruin his future or even his life. Therefore, Liu Zhi's heart was filled with sorrow and sorrow.
The commander of the 22nd Division, Chen Chengi, was silent from beginning to end. Chen Chengi, who was promoted from the commander of the fourth regiment of the 2nd Division to the deputy commander of the 22nd Division and then to the division commander within half a year, was very aware of the current situation of the 2nd Division and the actual situation of each regiment, so he
Almost directly ignoring any other generals of the Second Division, he directly
Casting his expectant eyes on the face of An Yi diagonally opposite him, he knew that in such a situation, only An Yi, who was full of clever ideas, and his independent regiment, which had repeatedly created miracles, could relieve the second division's urgent needs and avoid the danger.
The Second Division fell into a dilemma and once again avoided serious damage.
But what made Chen Chengyi helpless was that An Yi only exchanged a few words in a low voice with his regimental deputy Hu Jialin and regimental staff Yang Bin, and kept his head down reading the documents issued before the meeting, as if all this had nothing to do with him.
An Yi's performance left the veteran Chen Jijicheng unable to comprehend. On the contrary, it seemed that An Yi had suddenly become mature, and at the same time, a stranger, and the city had become deeper. The original enthusiasm, initiative, frankness and simplicity were no longer there.
.
Xu Tingyao was extremely disappointed with the performance of the generals in the audience. He whispered a few words to Liu Zhi beside him, and finally turned his head to An Yi who was immersed in reading. He took out a handkerchief and covered his mouth and coughed a few times. He blushed and asked loudly: "
Commander An, I remember that the division headquarters informed you yesterday about the situation of our division's attack. What do you think of our division's current tasks?"
The venue immediately fell silent, and everyone focused their hopeful eyes on An Yi.
An Yi raised his head and looked at Xu Tingyao, then looked around at the expectant expressions of the generals and commanders in the hall, and shook his head repeatedly with pain on his face: "My subordinates are incompetent, and I still can't think of any way. Originally, I thought we could give up hope.
It was placed on the First Division on the right, but according to the return report of the reconnaissance team sent by the subordinates, our division
It seems to be only ten kilometers away from the First Division, but there is a large mountain range in the middle. This mountain range extends from the south to Niufeng Ridge in the east of Tongling County, and is more than 40 kilometers long, all of which are inaccessible.
The mountains are so high and the mountains are blocked by heavy snow at this time that it is impossible for troops to pass through, so this only hope has been shattered."
Everyone on both sides of the long table looked extremely disappointed. After looking at each other, they all turned their attention to Liu Zhi and Xu Tingyao, who were sitting at the head of the table to the north.
In the deathly silence, Liu Zhi's lips were tightly closed and his face was frosty. Xu Tingyao coughed violently and kept wheezing. Upon seeing this, Chen Jiejie suggested in a low voice to adjourn the meeting temporarily and let the generals go back and settle down their ministries to discuss again in the evening. They were helpless.
Liu Zhi could only nod his head in agreement, and all the generals stood up and saluted to say goodbye in relief. An Yi also wore his beard and left with Yang Bin like everyone else.
Returning to the independent regiment headquarters by the river in the south of the city, An Yi, Hu Zi, and Yang Bin immediately joined more than twenty brothers who were conducting offensive and defensive drills around a large sand table. After Yang Bin briefly briefed the meaningless division meeting, the three of them
Keep a close eye on every mountain peak on the sand table and every indigenous village located in the alpine mountains, and explore and predict all the winding trails and customs that are far away from the world, which are only introduced by local people but have not been confirmed.
However, the twelve reconnaissance teams dispatched with great pains have not yet received any intelligence feedback. Any speculations made by An Yi and his brothers lack factual basis. However, An Yi did not accept the opinions of several brothers to temporarily stop the deduction and was stubborn.
He asked the brothers to continue to deduce and put together all the possible plans, euphemistically calling them "prepared for any eventuality."
In fact, although An Yi looked confident, he felt very heavy and had no confidence at all. He could not even see any hope of victory in this battle. The reason why he insisted on having his brothers continue to study and deduce was that he would not
Letting the brothers be idle creates the same pessimism as in the regiments of the Second Division, and breeds a terrible inertia of dependence on others.
Dinner was coming, and most of the brothers who had been fighting fiercely on the sand table all afternoon returned to each camp to patrol and mobilize. An Yi, who hastily grabbed a bowl of rice, strolled to the bank of the Xin'an River, squatted on the slippery rocks, and looked down at the dock.
The ships and the Xin'an River flowing quietly eastward were smoking silently, but my mind was filled with the four-kilometer narrow passage south of Yangchunqiao Town and the snow-capped mountains and cliffs on both sides of the passage.
After a while, the three men, Qu Muchen and Qu Muchen, who were visiting An Yi, also walked over. Like An Yi, they were full of depression and worried that the team they had managed to build up would be consumed in the upcoming battle.
In the midst of a tough battle, they deeply understood An Yi's pain and wanted to share this heart-wrenching pain with him.
The three of them and Shen Fengdao, who was standing behind An Yi quietly admiring the scenery, nodded. They all came to An Yi's side. No one said anything and quietly squatted down. They smoked cigarettes like An Yi and quietly looked at the dock and the scenery below.
Ships coming and going.
On the river, more than a dozen ship operators who had been recruited by An Yi with huge sums of money drove steamboats back and forth between the two sides of the strait. Officers and soldiers from the logistics and military supplies departments of each regiment carried loads of grain and meat down to the south bank pier.
Board the steamboat and cross over to the north shore, then pick up the heavy load and get off the boat, step by step up the slippery stone steps of the pier.
At this moment, the young soldier walking at the end carrying the heavy load screamed and slipped. The baskets at both ends of the pole slid out and rolled down the steep stone steps. The two large pottery oil jars were tied tightly.
The solid basket rolled faster and faster. One basket rushed out of the stone steps and jumped along the sloping embankment to the pier. With a "bang" sound, it hit the pile beside the pier and suddenly bounced off.
Diagonally ahead, a piece of oil splashed out and then crashed into the river with a "dong" sound. The other basket hit the solid pier stone slab due to inertial acceleration, bounced high again, and quickly hit the steamboat that had just left the shore.
, there was another loud "bang" sound, and the oil jar in the basket shattered with the sound, and the splashing oil spray fell on the two boat operators who could not avoid it, soaking the bow of the boat completely with oil.
Exclaims and curses immediately started to sound, but An Yi stood up and laughed with great excitement, which made Hu Zi and Yang Bin confused. They thought that just laughing twice would be enough. Is this worthy of such a long smile?
Just when An Yi was laughing heartily, the captain and quartermaster of the fourth regiment had already rushed to the fallen young soldier, grabbed the soldier's collar, slapped him twice, and threw the soldier away.
He almost rolled down the steep embankment, but the enraged captain and quartermaster still refused to give up. He stepped forward and kicked the soldier hard in the stomach, cursing and continuing to beat him.
"stop!"
An Yi yelled and hurried over. When the quartermaster saw the menacing An Yi, he took two steps back in fright. He hurriedly stood firm and immediately saluted:
"Sir, this kid deserves a beating. He broke two big pieces of oil. This subordinate has to teach him a lesson."
An Yi pointed to a pair of baskets four meters away that also contained two jars of vegetable oil. He pulled out his Colt pistol and slowly loaded it. He stared coldly into the captain's quartermaster's eyes and ordered in a deep voice: "You, immediately carry this load of oil off the dock."
, and then pick them up again. Just remember, it’s best not to fall. If you fall, I will shoot you immediately!”
"An...Sir An, you can't do this. I'm not your subordinate. You can't...wait! Wait...I obey my orders..."
An Yi removed the black muzzle from the quartermaster's brow. The quartermaster hurried to the side of the load, picked up the pole and put it on his shoulder, trembling under the horrified gaze of hundreds of officers and soldiers of each regiment on and off the shore.
Stepping tremblingly, he carried two jars of oil weighing more than eighty kilograms, and carefully moved down the sloping and slippery stone steps step by step.
After finally getting down to the dock, he didn't dare to put down his load to rest. Panting heavily, he once again carried the heavy load up the stone steps. It took twice as long as other soldiers to stagger up to the embankment. He carefully put down his load and immediately ran up.
He collapsed in the muddy snow water, panting like a dog and coughing violently and out of breath.
An Yi put away his gun and said coldly: "You have tried it yourself for a while. You should know the hardships of the soldier brothers. If an officer like you is in my army, I am afraid you will not survive for three days. I hope you remember
Follow this lesson and treat every brother kindly, otherwise you will die miserably in the future."
"Yes, sir, the lesson was right...ahem..."
The quartermaster was so frightened that he almost lost control of his bowels. Everyone in the division knew that An Yi treated his officers and soldiers as brothers and sisters. His group of villains could kill someone as easily as cutting grass. Even the commanders of each regiment and battalion were very concerned about Vietnam.
An Yi, who was becoming more and more domineering, was afraid of three points, let alone a small captain and quartermaster. If An Yi killed him, he would only get a few words of scolding from the superior, which is not much different from killing a dog.
Xiao Bing wiped the tears from his face and the blood from the corner of his mouth, tried his best to straighten his painful and tired body and walked to An Yi. He suddenly burst into tears and shouted something that made An Yi extremely sad:
"Captain, I was originally your soldier... In Gao'an... I had a stomachache and didn't make it to the top thirty. At that time, you were injured and lying on the high platform in front of the General Temple... I didn't even know your appearance.
I was able to see clearly, but I was taken away by the Fourth Regiment... by the Fourth Regiment! Woo hoo... I was just doing it for the model camp... for your prestige, leader, so I gave up my property, and I had to go in when I left.
My wife signed up to join the army, but...but you don't want me anymore...take me with you
Two days after entering the model camp, they sent me out again... Captain, I feel so bad! Longyou is surrounded, you sent brothers from the model camp to rescue the remaining six of us, all of whom are in Gao'an
Those who enlisted in the army... Every time we see the battle flag of the model camp, we can't help but shed tears... Commander, there are more than 180 brothers in our town, all of them originally enlisted in the model camp, but now there are only six left.
I am alive, Commander...I am sad, Commander..."
An Yi's nose felt sore and tears came out of his eyes. He stepped forward and hugged Xiao Bing into his arms, trembling to comfort him:
"I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry for the brothers who died! I'm sorry...Okay, don't leave! Follow me back to the model camp and be my soldier! When you go back later, tell the names of the other five brothers, I I'm going to the division headquarters tonight for a meeting, and I'm going to ask the Fourth Regiment Commander for people. I promise to get the five brothers back, I promise! Come back with me, I'll go back right away..."
Hundreds of officers and soldiers watched this scene with great emotion. They all sighed with tears in their eyes as they watched An Yi supporting the soldier who was covered in mud step by step towards Baisha Camp.
Huzi and Yang Bin let out a long sigh and followed. Shen Fengdao on the side took a deep breath, raised his head and looked at the foggy sky. With mixed feelings in his heart, he softly uttered a sentence: